The Sounds of Silence

Do you hear that?

No?

ME NEITHER!

That, my friends, is the sound of Patrick being at his cousin's house for a few days!!!! He left yesterday with Jen and my nephew, Brandon and niece, Katie, and we won't see him again until tomorrow afternoon, when we all meet up at DH's parent's place for an early Easter with the family.

Is it totally wrong that I am LOVING this? I mean, I love my boy to the ends of the earth, but this has been GREAT. There has been no fighting, no whining, hardly any work for me since Josie is old enough to do her own thing sometimes, and everything has been smooth sailing. It makes me think, this is what it would have been like if we'd stopped with Josie, and what it may potentially be like in a few years, when Patrick is older. I admit that if he was gone too much longer, I would start to really miss him, but I'm enjoying the placidity too much at the moment.

One other nice thing about Patrick being away was that Josie and DH could come to the church last night to the Maundy Thursday service (which marks the betrayal of Jesus), where the choir performed Song of Sorrows, a cantata with a full orchestra, down to a bassoon and a harp! It was beautiful, and while we as a choir had to rehearse really, really hard to get it all right, it came off well. The service was an hour long, most of which was the cantata. We started out with all the lights on and all the candles lit, and as we moved through the music, the lights got lower and lower, and candles were extinguished, until everything was dark and we were singing the final lament. Then, as the drum played a simple march, the orchestra and choirs left in pitch-dark silence. Even as someone who sings in the choir every week, I feel the most connected to the entire experience at these times, when we're doing a large musical production. I'm also really looking forward to singing the Halleleujah Chorus on Sunday, which we do at both services, because it's one of my favorite pieces of music to perform, and we'll get to do it twice. It's so joyful, and I love the feel of hitting the high notes (I sing soprano) with the huge organ opened all the way. Everyone joins in, and the whole thing is so loud and powerful that it sort of sweeps me away.

I also like Easter because of the historical aspects. Whether you believe in Christ as the messiah or just as this seemingly great guy who spoke on peace and love, the historical facts are the same. The last supper, the betrayal, the arrest and crucifixion are all events that there need be no debate about, because they are historical events that require no particular religious belief. It amazes me that nearly 2000 years later, there we are, thinking and singing about these real people who were breaking bread and drinking wine, on the same day, at roughly the same time of day as we are. It makes the whole thing seem more relatable to me.